Status
Available
Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Helsinki : Gummerus, 1997.
Description
In Cabal, master crime writer Michael Dibdin plunges us into a murky world of church spies, secret societies, cover-ups, and mistaken identities. An apparent suicide in the Vatican may in fact have been a muder conducted by a centuries-old cabal within The Knights of Columbus. A discovery among the medieval manuscripts of the Vatican Library leads to a second death, Zen travels to Milan, where he faces a final, dramatic showdown. Meanwhile, Zen's lover, the tantalizing Tania, is conducting her own covert operations--which could well jeopardize everything Zen has worked for. Richly textured, wickedly entertaining, Cabal taps the mysterious beauty of Italy in a thriller that challenges our beliefs about love, allegiance, history, and power--and the lengths to which we will go to protect them against the truth.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member cbl_tn
A man falls to his death from the dome of St. Peter's Basilica. Is it suicide or murder? For appearance's sake, the Vatican calls on Italian authorities to undertake a parallel investigation. Aurelio Zen's initially perfunctory investigation takes a surprising turn when it appears that a mysterious
This book was better than the last book in the series, and I'm glad I stuck with it. Dibdin surprised me with this one. Just when it seemed like it was going to be a typical conspiracy novel, he threw in an interesting twist. Zen didn't do anything in this book to make me like him any better. He'll never be among my favorite fictional detectives. However, the settings in various parts of Italy and the irony in the series provide enough motivation for me to continue with the series.
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Cabal may have been behind the death.This book was better than the last book in the series, and I'm glad I stuck with it. Dibdin surprised me with this one. Just when it seemed like it was going to be a typical conspiracy novel, he threw in an interesting twist. Zen didn't do anything in this book to make me like him any better. He'll never be among my favorite fictional detectives. However, the settings in various parts of Italy and the irony in the series provide enough motivation for me to continue with the series.
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LibraryThing member bcquinnsmom
As the third installment of the Aurelio Zen series opens, a man plunges to his death in a Vatican chapel. Considering that the Vatican is off limits to Italian authorities, Aurelio finds it odd that he is called in to investigate. But soon he learns that he is supposed to substantiate the fact that
This one was the best of the three; but you will want to start with the first of the series or you won't understand a lot of the references. Also...you should know that if you expect a tidy ending you won't find it here; personally, I don't mind when this happens, but a lot of readers may object to the abruptness of the end.
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the man's death was a suicide, so he plays along. However, things get dicey when another man is electrocuted in his shower, because he was a security officer in charge of watching the man who died in the Vatican. Since this murder took place outside of the Vatican, Aurelio goes to investigate and discovers a high-level conspiracy linking back to an organization linking to the Vatican in the form of a group known as Cabal. Some pretty good plot twists & turns, and Aurelio's character is much more developed.This one was the best of the three; but you will want to start with the first of the series or you won't understand a lot of the references. Also...you should know that if you expect a tidy ending you won't find it here; personally, I don't mind when this happens, but a lot of readers may object to the abruptness of the end.
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LibraryThing member rmay525
The fact that this book begins with someone plunging to his death from the Dome of St. Peter's had me hooked. What a completely poetic way to kill someone. I have also always liked Dibdin's hero, the Italian detective Aurelio Zen, he's just tragically flawed enough to make him seem human and also
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be empathetic. Show Less
LibraryThing member mrtall
Michael Dibdin's Cabal takes Aurelio Zen into the Vatican, as he investigates the suspicious death of a minor member of Italy's faded aristocracy. Was he really a nobody -- or was he an integral part of a powerful secret society?
Great stuff, this one -- Dibdin's work is subtle, provocative and
Great stuff, this one -- Dibdin's work is subtle, provocative and
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entertaining. How he manages to remain well-known-but-certainly-not-famous, while a hack like Donna Leon (who runs a similar murder-mysteries-set-in-Italy franchise) prospers is indeed a mystery to me. Show Less
LibraryThing member tulikangaroo
Zen is called to the Vatican to examine a suspicious suicide. In the process, he uncovers more murders, shadowy secret societies, and crimes... of fashion?
I will say this about the ending: I did not see that coming. It may not be how I would have liked it to end, but it was certainly a surprise
I will say this about the ending: I did not see that coming. It may not be how I would have liked it to end, but it was certainly a surprise
LibraryThing member nmele
Dibdin must have been prescient, because this entry in the Aurelio Zen series skewered "The Da Vinci Code" and similar thrillers years before Dan Brown wrote the latter.
LibraryThing member ehines
The Zen series is back on track in this third installment. Zen is growing into a more ambivalent, and more interesting sort of character. And living in a land where seemingly everyone has a fiddle, that's only appropriate.
LibraryThing member jkdavies
this one felt slighter, more full of red herrings than the other Dibdin's I have read. It was still enjoyable, especially the "denouement" of the Cabal...
LibraryThing member leslie.98
Once again Zen faces an inquiry in which corruption and politics play an important role. This time the case involves the Vatican rather than the government.
Zen tries to share in the corruption! Although he is successful in figuring out what was behind the murders, he isn't in his attempt to profit
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from his knowledge. I for one am glad of that! Show Less
LibraryThing member TomDonaghey
Cabal (1992) by Michael Dibdin. I picked up a couple of the Inspector Zen novels a few years ago after seeing that a television series was to be shown based on the novels. I never saw the show and didn’t read any of the novels until now. I wish I had started on this series years ago as the books
Welcome to Italy, specifically Rome. Here is where CABAL is set. A country within a country, Vatican City is a separate state totally engulfed by Rome. There s a “suicide” in St. Peter’s basilica. A man, Prince Ruspanti, falls to his death. Inspector Zen, of the Italian State police (think a FBI type of organism) is called in to give an official version of what happened. He instantly knows that it was a murder, gathers evidence, and then plays politics, not wanting to lose his job or his own life.
This novel is both a police mystery and an essay on the mystery of Italian politics. What is real and what is necessary are often two different things and Zen has been an inspector long enough to know that mere facts are not enough to come to any conclusion. The Vatican must be satisfied, as do the Roman officials, the Italian State officials and the police officials.
This is a very complicated affair as is, apparently, everything to do with politics in Italy.
But the case is interesting, and there is more death involved, and we see a side to our hero that is unexpected. Being Italy, there is also the latest fashion designer to figure into the mix, especially when Zen’s woman friend decides to wear some of ‘Falco’s’ new line.
There is also the secret society within a secret society, The Cabal of the title. Zen has to worry about these invisible threats to his work and to his life.
Personal and political angst pull our hero but he reveals himself to be a fine investigator and tightrope walker.
I enjoyed this novel far more than I thought I would.
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I have read are very good.Welcome to Italy, specifically Rome. Here is where CABAL is set. A country within a country, Vatican City is a separate state totally engulfed by Rome. There s a “suicide” in St. Peter’s basilica. A man, Prince Ruspanti, falls to his death. Inspector Zen, of the Italian State police (think a FBI type of organism) is called in to give an official version of what happened. He instantly knows that it was a murder, gathers evidence, and then plays politics, not wanting to lose his job or his own life.
This novel is both a police mystery and an essay on the mystery of Italian politics. What is real and what is necessary are often two different things and Zen has been an inspector long enough to know that mere facts are not enough to come to any conclusion. The Vatican must be satisfied, as do the Roman officials, the Italian State officials and the police officials.
This is a very complicated affair as is, apparently, everything to do with politics in Italy.
But the case is interesting, and there is more death involved, and we see a side to our hero that is unexpected. Being Italy, there is also the latest fashion designer to figure into the mix, especially when Zen’s woman friend decides to wear some of ‘Falco’s’ new line.
There is also the secret society within a secret society, The Cabal of the title. Zen has to worry about these invisible threats to his work and to his life.
Personal and political angst pull our hero but he reveals himself to be a fine investigator and tightrope walker.
I enjoyed this novel far more than I thought I would.
Show Less
Subjects
Awards
Crime Writers' Association Awards (Shortlist — 1992)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1992
ISBN
9512051281 / 9789512051281